UNBEATEN STREAK CONTINUES FOR KESTRELS AS THEY DISPATCH BCU IN PLAYOFF QUARTER FINAL
- Apr 3
- 4 min read
The Kestrels are through to the NBL Division One Play-Off Semi Finals after an 85-70 win against Birmingham City University, with an Andre Arissol 32-point performance.
The home side knew what was needed of them to progress into the next round of the Play-Offs, having beaten Birmingham City University earlier in the season. However, the month of March can be full of surprises.
The trusty offence of Andre Arissol settled the ship early, despite the clock winding down on the opening Kestrels possession, the Kestrels captain nailed a one footed floater ready for the highlight reel. Coming into the game, the BCU offence was full of experience and pace, with the ability to stretch the floor immediately with an extended outlet pass to get in behind defenders. This was evident, when three buckets were scored between the two sides in a matter of 21 seconds, Reiss Faure-Daley finding nylon on a transition shot from downtown, followed by Arissol getting an outside shot to go down to respond.
It was the double AA battery that led the Kestrels offence initially, full of confidence after hitting the three, Arissol was aggressive driving to the basket, picking up two shots at the line and forcing Faure-Daley to pick up unwanted fouls early. However, after the made shots from 15 feet, BCU maintained their speed in transition, scoring just three seconds into the shot clock. It was that pace that kept BCU in touch with the NBL D1 Champs early in the first quarter, but the outside shooting of Ethan Round looked to put daylight between the to sides, hitting two in two minutes to make it 21-13 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Arissol continued his fine start to the game, hitting a three of his own, not once but twice before the end of the quarter and propelled him onto a tidy 17 points in the opening ten minutes. A comfortable 13-point margin for the Kestrels to begin the second period was rapidly cut to single digits, Faure-Daley and Damian Ogodan scoring to pull the 4th seed back into contention. Faure-Daley began to settle into the game with that shot, and he also became more comfortable from beyond the arc, hitting another shot from outside to maintain the single digit differential.
Both sides looked strong offensively, but fouls were the name of the game with four minutes left in the first half and was a worry for some of the BCU players going into the break. Ronald Oberia’s offence was anything but a worry, however, scoring 11 points in a matter of five minutes in the second quarter and the shining light on the offensive end for BCU.
Javen Osei-Owusu had played earlier in the day for the Kestrels U18 side in their play-off campaign, but he didn’t let that fatigue his vertical, with an emphatic finish on the rim to lift the Kestrels Family to their feet in the Solent Sports Complex. After a strong scoring quarter from the Kestrels in the first, with 31 points, BCU replied with 23 points in the second to keep Matt Guymon’s side’s lead to just nine points, at 49-41.
Arissol and Faure-Daley continued their battle into the second half, as both players scored buckets within the first ten seconds of the third quarter. Neither team could find the rhythm in which the second quarter was played, a total of 24 points scored as the game became more and more physical. It was the physicality that made the difference down the stretch for BCU, as Faure-Daley was the first player for the Midlands side to foul out of the game. Arissol played through the contact and fouls from the BCU guards by hitting yet another three to extend the Kestrels lead to 63-48.
Another strong start to a quarter from the away side, bringing the gap back to single digits through Vivaldo Ferreira and the experienced Samuel Toluwase, the former then became the second BCU player to foul out of the game. The fouling seemed to just fuel the Kestrels offence, particularly Round, who was more aggressive driving to the basket and finished past defenders and through contact from Ogodan, who was the third player to exit the game due to fouls. The Kestrels lead then became just that more challenging for BCU to overcome, and Round cemented that with another three-pointer.
Wayne Kitenge enjoyed the shorter rotation of BCU to have a flurry of points in the final minutes of the game to score 8 points across the evening but more importantly get the Kestrels win over the line, ending the game at 85-70 in what was an entertaining game for the packed-out Complex.
Box score - FIBA LiveStats
An energy infused performance from the away side but couldn’t cause the upset in the opening round of the NBL One Play-Offs, as the Kestrels now progress to the Semi-Finals.
The Solent-based side move into the final four and will play Barking Abbey on Saturday 11th of April at 6pm at the Solent Sports Complex. 1st and 3rd seed in the South match up once again in a repeat of last year’s final, tickets for this game are now available here;
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